Owing to the ongoing economic crisis, gold worth nearly Rs. 200 billion has been pawned to various financial institutions in the country, a survey has revealed.
Accordingly, as per a survey conducted by the University of Peradeniya’s Department of Economics and Statistical Studies, it was revealed that gold worth over Rs. 193 billion has been pawned within the first 10 months of 2022.
The Department’s Prof. Wasantha Athukorala revealed that a majority of those who had pawned their gold belonged to the middle class, adding the two most common uses of the money received was for the education of their children and agricultural activities.
Prof. Athukorala further noted, however, that people are more likely to obtain the service from privatized pawning centres now, as they provide higher rates.
The survey was conducted on a total of 13 licensed commercial banks and 10 pawning centres
